First said to have originated around September, by December, it had been assumed that nearly a quarter of the cases in London were related to the new mutation of the virus.
Right now, the only way to diagnose the new strain is by gene sequencing the sample.
However, while the sequence is still being researched, experts have noticed a common trend in the symptoms which come up with the new strain, and the ones which make it different from the previous one.
Doctors across the UK have observed slight deviations in the onset of symptoms, or particular symptoms which differ between the two COVID strains.
We tell you a few ways which can help you differentiate between the original COVID strain and the much deadlier strain, B.1.1.7 variant
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